Researcher: LaTonia Belcher
Research Advisor: Dr. Thomas Davis, Chemical Engineering
Molecular Strucutre of Polysulfone
Introduction
Requirements from the Food and Drug Administration are driving the need for separation and characterization of drug enantiomers. Enantiomers are two substances that have the same molecular formula but the atoms are arranged differently; the structures have a right and left hand mirror image relationship, chirality. When drugs are produced synthetically, most chiral compounds form racemic mixtures, e.i., both right and left hand enantiomers are produced. However, many times only one enantiomer has desirable physiological function while others cause undesirable effects.
Objective
The goal of this project is to bind receptor sites to a membrane and use electric current (Click here for further explaination) to release the chiral compound into a small volume of water.
Overview
Commercially available membranes are not suitable for the attachment of receptors; therefore, I am in the process of developing membranes for a novel technique for separating chiral compounds. In the future I will test the performance of the membranes I prepare. To be more specific, I am attempting to attach a chloromethyl group to polysulfone (PSF) and form a membrane with the modified PSF. Then I will be able to attach a receptor to the membrane and subsequently aminate the membrane to make it conduct anions. The conventional procedures include purification of PSF, chloromethylation of PSF (click here to view apparatus), amination of the chloromethylated PSF, and application of a coating of this material onto one side of a cation-exchange membrane to produce a bipolar membrane preparation.
Future Work
Titration tests have been performed on the polymer to determine if it is an ion-exchange resin, and the titration curve appeared to be the same as that of water alone, which indicated that the material is not an ion-exchange resin. If titration of the polymer had required more acid than the titration of water, then the material would have properties of an ion-exchange resin. The procedure for modifying the polymer will be refined until I am certain that the material is an ion-exchange resin. Membranes or resins made by conventional procedure will be used as controls in this study. After this technique has been again perfected, the order of this experiment will be changed to make a membrane of the chloromethylated PSF before the animation step. Since trimethylamine is a vapor at room temperature, attempts will be made to affect the amination of the coating with trimethylamine vapor.
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Requirements from the Food and Drug Administration are driving the need for separation and characterization of drug enantiomers. Enantiomers are two substances that have the same molecular formula but the atoms are arranged differently; the structures have a right and left hand mirror image relationship, chirality. When drugs are produced synthetically, most chiral compounds form racemic mixtures, e.i., both right and left hand enantiomers are produced. However, many times only one enantiomer has desirable physiological function while others cause undesirable effects.
Objective
The goal of this project is to bind receptor sites to a membrane and use electric current (Click here for further explaination) to release the chiral compound into a small volume of water.
Overview
Commercially available membranes are not suitable for the attachment of receptors; therefore, I am in the process of developing membranes for a novel technique for separating chiral compounds. In the future I will test the performance of the membranes I prepare. To be more specific, I am attempting to attach a chloromethyl group to polysulfone (PSF) and form a membrane with the modified PSF. Then I will be able to attach a receptor to the membrane and subsequently aminate the membrane to make it conduct anions. The conventional procedures include purification of PSF, chloromethylation of PSF (click here to view apparatus), amination of the chloromethylated PSF, and application of a coating of this material onto one side of a cation-exchange membrane to produce a bipolar membrane preparation.
Future Work
Titration tests have been performed on the polymer to determine if it is an ion-exchange resin, and the titration curve appeared to be the same as that of water alone, which indicated that the material is not an ion-exchange resin. If titration of the polymer had required more acid than the titration of water, then the material would have properties of an ion-exchange resin. The procedure for modifying the polymer will be refined until I am certain that the material is an ion-exchange resin. Membranes or resins made by conventional procedure will be used as controls in this study. After this technique has been again perfected, the order of this experiment will be changed to make a membrane of the chloromethylated PSF before the animation step. Since trimethylamine is a vapor at room temperature, attempts will be made to affect the amination of the coating with trimethylamine vapor.
Back to RCS Home
Back to Top